Castilla blues

Posted by Paulo Martin,Spain

A shot to the heart The recent signing of the unknown french player for Real Madrid is a shot to the heart for the clubs youth system and it produces more perplexity than satisfaction.   Real Madrid has signed Julien Faubert. We know he`s french, he`s 25 years old, he plays down the right and he comes on loan from West Ham. It used to be the opposite. A young player, someone who was dis-satisfied would arrive at a bottom of the table team, or a team that was playing in second division looking to be promoted. But Real Madrid has forgotten the priorities that define the club a long time ago. Its world renowned prestige, its obligation to sign the worlds best players, and its necessity to protect and groom its youth system. Fauberts arrival venerates all those basic priorities.   In the last two years, various ex Real Madrid players have become indispensable key players in their respective teams. Few times has the world of football seen such a monumental cock-up and such an absence of precision to calibrate the talent of our youth players. De La Red had become an international player and was called up for the EURO`s while playing at Getafe after we had sold him. Now Mata and Negredo, look like having the same destiny, both players were sold/left the club and are being seriously considered for international duty also. Two players that force one to ask himself what sort of value system does our youth system have ? Lets say there places are occupied by Drenthe & Huntelaar, who`s collective price is 40m euros. One of them we already now what he has offered, nothing, the other looks like going the same way.   Real Madrid is determined in working for other clubs and buying poorly and expensively. In the last two and half years, the club has spent 300m euros, an amount that is just astonishing and scary. The actual administration seems determined to lower the clubs prestige. As hard as this sounds to the fans, the clubs actual position in world football isn't what it used to be.   Faubert is a symptom of all this absurdity. He hasn't been a regular starting player in his club, a mediocre club. The glory days of West Ham are well behind them, at least 40 years behind them when the likes of Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters left the club. Since then its been a club with a fantastic youth system producing such players as Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Rio Ferdinand and Michael Carrick among others.Faubert belongs among the large list of almost anonymous players who have done nothing at West Ham. Despite all that we have decided to accommodate him.   THE CONTRADICTION Fauberts case touches a sensitive nerve in the institution and among the fans. The youth system has received a devastating message from the club. In few teams does such a distance produce its self between the reality of whats happened and the signals the clubs emits.Real Madrid`s youth system is the most generous in Spain, in terms of forming and developing quality players as well as their form after in other clubs. Despite all this the perception inside the club seems that none of the players are ready to play for Real Madrid.   The fans assist perplexed at this massive contradiction. They don't understand how we can spend a fortune on players like Van Der Vaart, Drenthe or Huntelaar and how we can ignore our youth on temporary players such as Faubert. Its a shot to the heart for the youth system and possibly to a team that's core are players such as Raul, Casillas and Guti. Far from promoting its closeness and identity through its factory of youth players, Real Madrid is hellbent in signing expensive mediocre players who will never leave there mark at the club. Its a way of asking yourself, what does this Ream Madrid want ?. Nobody knows.

                                 Negredo,Granero,de la Red.......where did it all go wrong?